1 Like This'd be great if every single game on Steam worked on Linux. However, until that happens I'm gonna have to stick with Windows 7.
Steam for Linux beta client released
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Valve launches "limited access beta" for new Linux Steam client for select users with support for Team Fortress 2 and Big Picture mode.
Full Linux support for Steam is one step closer. Valve has announced that it launched a "limited access beta" for the new Steam for Linux client. The client supports Valve's free-to-play shooter Team Fortress 2, as well as two dozen additional games, including World of Goo, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, and Trine 2.
On top of that, the Steam for Linux beta client supports Steam's new Big Picture mode (itself in beta). This allows users to browse, purchase, and play all Steam games through TV sets they already own.
Valve president and cofounder Gabe Newell called the news a "huge milestone in the development of PC gaming."
Valve said it received more than 60,000 beta applicants during the first week the company asked for respondents. The first wave of Steam for Linux beta participants will be chosen from this group. The beta will widen to additional users at a later time, with a full Steam for Linux client launching when a "solid level of stability and performance" is reached.
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.
119 comments
1 Like This comment has been deleted
I went to linux and tried it out for a while. Funny thing is I hate the Windows 8 'aol' format so much I'm tempted to follow this over to Linux. I know I can get the classic desktop if I pay M$ more money but I think it is time to end the feeding of M$. Businesses do it enough that I don't need to join in.
@raahsnavj AOL? Classic Desktop if you pay more money? What are you talking about...
If you know how to get it, then you can get it for free. If you don't you only have to pay $40 to upgrade Windows XP, Vista or 7.. Beyond that the start menu is only a few seconds that you have to deal with it when you start up. If you never want to see it while you use your comp just install Chrome (or another browser), VLC (or another media player), and other such desktop apps. They become default and you never see the tile interface again.
Beyond that, it is so easy to navigate the interface I don't really get the complaints by people...
To answer your questions:
Windows 8 is AOL reborn:
http://cdn.iwastesomuchtime.com/5192012043239windows8vsaol.jpeg
And you do have to pay for it. The standard windows desktop is not available on the cheapest version of Windows 8. You have to go Pro to get the standard desktop back otherwise you are stuck with the "tile based" format. Right now until January 2013 you can get Pro for $39.99 (if you download it) and it only lets you upgrade 5 times (read that 'install your old one, then apply the upgrade).
Or I can just go get Linux for free and try it out again. With Steam going to Linux, that hopefully means games are going to Linux which is one of the reasons I haven't gone to Linux fully.
Now, I will probably have to setup a dual boot Windows install in there for things certain things but at least I won't be feeding the beast anymore.
1 Like @raahsnavj @MiltoxBeyond You're mixing up Windows RT and Windows 8. Every version of Windows 8 has the desktop. Windows RT (for ARM based tablets) has a limited desktop for MS Office only. They are not the same operating system, though their interfaces are similar.
1 Like @hobotech64 I hope this is mostly trolling, just cuz something's free doesn't make it worse. If you want to pay for an OS with viruses, slower speeds and less choices for the reason of it costing money, that's your choice I suppose.
@Jebril It mostly is:)
Gabe Newell said it best though: If it supports all the applications and games that Windows had, I'd switch to Linux in a heartbeat.
knew this was going to happen with the fiasco that was with the new Windows 8, this was the only logical step for the next iteration for steam in my opinion as steam may not be compatible with windows 8 at some point due to microsoft and their hissy fit about distribution and development rights they implemented with windows 8 with a shoddy GUI
@xsonicchaos I said AT SOME POINT!!!! meaning gabe newell may not want steam to funtion on windows 8 at a later date with microsofts development restriction.... just do your own reasearch for heaven sake.... its not that difficult...
@vackillers Hissy fit? A lot of misinformation going around. I have steam running on my Windows 8 Comp and they can't remove it. The whole distribution thing was only for Windows RT.
The GUI is only a replacement start menu, which you don't even need to see, at least not much at all, if you replace the browser and media player like most people do by installing Chrome or VLC.
@MiltoxBeyond well im refering to the following articles that had been posted here in the last month or so.. i'll link them...
http://www.gamespot.com/news/notch-refuses-to-certify-minecraft-for-windows-8-6397371
some reason gamespot have taken their article off about gabe newels coments on this so i had to go to an external source... but these is what i was talking about, its hardly mis-information.. and windows 8 has been specificly built for touch screen monitors and screens, you may not mind not having a start menu, but its completely useless the whole GUI unless you have a touch screen, clicking and dragging the mouse to "swipe" the screen at the login screen is completely rediculas... a PC is NOT a smart phone or a tablet...
@MiltoxBeyond your most welcome :D and man, you have GOT!! to design that if you can.. it has to be possible you'd have to bring up say the dial pad screen in order to flick through the channels im sure or something to that effect i think it can be done!
@vackillers Oh and thanks... TV and phone isn't quite as easy to insert input, maybe if it is rooted/jailbroken GoogleTV/AppleTV.
Although there is a wifi remote control that has an app for iOS and Android so you could use your tablet. Just not with touch input. Don't remember where I saw it though.
@vackillers Just because it has touch input doesn't mean it's based on the phone OS. Just because you can use touch on it doesn't mean that it is strictly for touch. It is based off of Windows 7, with a start menu that looks like the tiles from windows phone. Have you used it as opposed to just seeing it?
Logging in you just press any key and the login screen pops up to your password.
Touch input isn't new, it's been in Windows 7 since the beginning...the difference is just they added multitouch gestures. Put an extra menu on the left and right, and added new types of applications. The thing is hardly anything actually needs to be touch...there are some cool things you can do with touch, but it works just as well with the mouse and keyboard.
I just don't like how people overreact to the whole Windows 8 start screen saying everything is different. You can access it just by pressing the Start button and put it away by another press of the button. All older apps work as long as they worked for Windows 7.
I love Gabe Newell's games, but he is just overreacting because of the same confusion, thinking that A) Microsoft dictates what can be installed, and B) Touch input is the only way to work with Windows 8. That's why I say it is misinformation. You can install anything you want on Windows 8 (not so in Windows RT, but that is for tablets really). and you don't need a touch screen.
Notch to me doesn't rank up there with the great game developers, sure minecraft is unique, but not something awe-inspiring, and he does have a history of making extreme claims.
Just to show you what Win8 looks like for me:
@MiltoxBeyond PS. Good luck with your app, thats an awesome idea and i wish you the best with that... you should develop an app that lets you remote control your TV with your phone and tablet too, now that WOULD be very kool indeed :D
@MiltoxBeyond you're absolutely correct it IS ridiculous!!! and you can ration it however you want, it IS!!! usable for a mouse and keyboard that wasn't what i said, i said it was built to be made with a touch screen!!! there are so many things the login screen was just an example of MANY things that are better used as a touch screen then simply just logging in.. Its not mis-information, i've seen it first hand, i've seen pretty much all there is to know, there are also PLENTY of youtube videos were the simpleist of everyday windows funtions is now a lot more of a hassle to get to, start menu is just one of those things, you can LOVE windows 8 all you want, and you can say bad things about those 2 developers if you wish, which are arguebly some of the most respected gaming developers in the buisness today, so everything they say is crap right? and microsoft isn't trying to monolplize anything at all, right? To say its miss information, makes me wonder if you actually work for microsoft? because its not, i've SEEN what windows 8 is and how to use it, with the slightly new learning curve to an OS, if it wasn't supposed to be used for touch screen, they why is it based on the windows phone OS? and the tablet OS? its identical mate...
1 Like @vackillers You don't have to click and drag. Scroll and the screen will go back and forth. Or type and just like in Windows 7 you'll get the program even if you just type the first letters.
Besides that, I'm finishing up a beta soon of an app that can let you control your PC with a phone or tablet so your touch input acts as though you have a touch screen (android for now, if I get some donations after I release it I'll port it to iOS, and Windows Phone 8 as well)
And it is misinformation. Notch typically overreacts to stuff like towards EA and Microsoft, etc. And Gabe Newell just doesn't want to have direct competition from Microsoft. But you can install anything you want on a Windows 8 computer. I'm running it right now. I have steam and games play faster than they did on Windows 7 (plus I can alt+tab between programs with no delay which I love so I can multi-task while waiting for things to happen). The only restriction is on Windows RT which is the ARM processor version of Windows that only will be for tablets. On those tablets you have to install from the Windows Store.
Finally you don't need a touch monitor or anything at all I work with a mouse and keyboard just fine.
People are overreacting about Windows 8, but I, for one, who has been using it since it's previews find that I can work just fine without touch screen.
*P.S. - It's ridiculous.
This is great news for anyone interested in PC gaming, regardless of your platform of choice. :)
On Black Friday I am buying a ton of computer parts including a new HDD and guess what OS is going on it (Hint: It starts with an L and ends with an inux).
the close/max/min buttons are on the wrong side..should definitely be on the left side, and I can't download team fortress 2 in linux as it doesn't say it's supported in the store which makes sense and all..I'm not a registered beta tester so does that make a difference, I'm able to play my other games that have linux support so should I download it in windows..then go back to steam and have it in my cached library???
@obsequies The only game compatible I believe is Left 4 Dead 2 right now until they finish beta testing.
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9 Like sudo apt-get install steam
some users will understand that !
if you know it ! then u rock
thanx all
1 Like @zatorys dude, that is only on distros like debian which use apt synaptic repos. They will have rpm's and other formats as well hopefully and not support just Ubuntu and its kernel. It would suck if we had to build steam from source each time we upgraded our kernel.
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@ggregd @buccomatic @darkasylum You sir, truly win the "Awesome" award for the week, for such priceless ATHF references, lol.
1 Like @buccomatic @darkasylum Linux isn't hard enough to figure out to need a manual. Just get rocking!You can learn it with on your own with experimentation and google like everyone else did!
I'm all for supporting every platform, but as someone who regularly uses linux at work, I gotta say - it's a honking piece of shit. It is literally the most user-unfriendly software imaginable, and I have no idea why some people are so fanatical about it.
I get that it's a David and Goliath situation with M$, but who are you kidding? If linux had 50% of the market instead of the 1% or whatever they have now, do you really think it would still be free?
@publius10 It's not for noobs, simple as that. I feel your pain if you are forced to use it at work. Just bear in mind, calling it a "honking piece of shit" because you don't like it or it's not up to your standards is just as childish as my first statement.
3 Like @mgaroz @publius10 Linux Mint is probably the most user friendly OS out there out of anything right now. It's very simplistic and most of the things people need like codecs, flash, and java are already pre-installed.
@Jebril @mgaroz @publius10 That's rigth, i am typing this with LinuxMint 13 KDE rigth now and all i have to do is burn the iso file to a dvd and put it in the disc tray, choose install alongside with Windows update it and thats all, simple, fast and easy to use.
@publius10 you're right it isn't user friendly because thats not where it was aimed at..now things are changing as linux is..I used to think the future of linux was in Ubuntu but unity can sure make me think otherwise..I truly believe that if linux is going to change things ubuntu needs to do that and they need to go back to gnome...and gnome needs to restructure its layout..but have something that can work for touchswcreens better..like unity but not insane
1 Like @obsequies @publius10 Linux is more than Ubuntu too, you should give other distros a shot, with a few exceptions, most are just as friendly.
with windows 8 being a pos and steam leading devs into linux there will be no use for microsoft anymore... excellent. Unity is crap though, canonical made a poor decision to make it the default desktop enviro
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